Volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification

The qualification for the 2020 men's Olympic volleyball tournament allocated twelve teams quota spots: the hosts, the winners in each of the six pools of Intercontinental Qualifying Tournament, and five continental Olympic qualification tournament winners. Teams already qualified for the event are not eligible to play in the following qualification tournaments. The 2020 Olympics was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Qualification summary

Event		Dates	Venue(s)	Quota	Qualifier(s)
Host Country[2]		7 September 2013	Buenos Aires	1	Japan
Intercontinental Qualifier	Pool A	9–11 August 2019	Varna	1	Brazil
	Pool B		Rotterdam	1	United States
	Pool C		Bari	1	Italy
	Pool D		Gdańsk–Sopot	1	Poland
	Pool E		Saint Petersburg	1	Russia
	Pool F		Ningbo	1	Argentina
European Qualifier		5–10 January 2020	Berlin	1	France
Asian Qualifier		7–12 January 2020	Jiangmen	1	Iran
African Qualifier		7–11 January 2020	Cairo	1	Tunisia
South American Qualifier		10–12 January 2020	Mostazal	1	Venezuela
North American Qualifier		10–12 January 2020	Vancouver	1	Canada
Total				12

Timeline

Confederation	Tournament		Date	Venue	Teams
FIVB (Intercontinental)	FIVB Tokyo Volleyball Qualification	Pool A	9–11 August 2019	Varna	4
		Pool B	9–11 August 2019	Rotterdam	4
		Pool C	9–11 August 2019	Bari	4
		Pool D	9–11 August 2019	Gdańsk–Sopot	4
		Pool E	9–11 August 2019	Saint Petersburg	4
		Pool F	9–11 August 2019	Ningbo	4
CAVB (Africa)	CAVB Tokyo Volleyball Qualification		7–11 January 2020	Cairo	4
AVC (Asia and Oceania)	Asian Championship Western Asia Qualification		17–21 July 2019	Muscat	3
	Asian Championship		13–21 September 2019	Tehran	15+1
	AVC Tokyo Volleyball Qualification		7–12 January 2020	Jiangmen	8
CEV (Europe)	CEV Tokyo Volleyball Qualification		5–10 January 2020	Berlin	8
NORCECA (North America)	NORCECA Champions Cup		22–24 August 2019	Colorado Springs	4
	NORCECA Championship		2–7 September 2019	Winnipeg	6+1
	NORCECA Tokyo Volleyball Qualification		10–12 January 2020	Vancouver	4
CSV (South America)	South American Championship		10–14 September 2019	Mostazal	6+2
	CSV Tokyo Volleyball Qualification		10–12 January 2020	Mostazal	4

Pool standing procedure

For all qualification tournaments except North American qualification tournament Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost) In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker will apply: The teams will be ranked by the most points gained per match as follows: Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser Match won 3–2: 2 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser Match forfeited: 3 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, then the FIVB will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order: Sets quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all sets won by the number of all sets lost. Points quotient: if the tie persists based on the sets quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets. If the tie persists based on the points quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. When the tie in points quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.

For North American qualification tournament only Total number of victories (matches won, matches lost) In the event of a tie, the following first tiebreaker will apply: The teams will be ranked by the most points gained per match as follows: Match won 3–0: 5 points for the winner, 0 points for the loser Match won 3–1: 4 points for the winner, 1 point for the loser Match won 3–2: 3 points for the winner, 2 point for the loser Match forfeited: 5 points for the winner, 0 points (0–25, 0–25, 0–25) for the loser If teams are still tied after examining the number of victories and points gained, then the NORCECA will examine the results in order to break the tie in the following order: Points quotient: if two or more teams are tied on the number of points gained, they will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of all points scored by the total of points lost during all sets. Sets quotient: if the tie persists based on the points quotient, the teams will be ranked by the quotient resulting from the division of the number of all sets won by the number of all sets lost. If the tie persists based on the sets quotient, the tie will be broken based on the team that won the match of the Round Robin Phase between the tied teams. When the tie in sets quotient is between three or more teams, these teams ranked taking into consideration only the matches involving the teams in question.

Host country

FIVB reserved a berth for the 2020 Summer Olympics host country to participate in the tournament.

•  Japan

Intercontinental Olympic Qualification Tournament

• The winners in each pool qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Qualified teams

Teams were seeded following the serpentine system according to their FIVB World Ranking as of 1 October 2018.[3] Rankings are shown in brackets.

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D	Pool E	Pool F
Brazil (1)	United States (2)	Italy (3) (H)	Poland (4) (H)	Russia (5) (H)	Canada (6)
Egypt (13)	Belgium (12)	Serbia (10)	France (9)	Iran (8)	Argentina (7)
Bulgaria (14) (H)	Netherlands (15) (H)	Australia (16)	Slovenia (17)	Cuba (18)	Finland (19)
Puerto Rico (24)	South Korea (24)	Cameroon (23)	Tunisia (22)	Mexico (21)	China (20) (H)

Notes

• Teams in bold qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
• (H): Qualification group hosts

Qualification round

Twenty-four teams qualified for the competition as the top twenty-four teams of FIVB World Ranking on 1 October 2018[4] (except Japan who qualified as hosts for the 2020 Summer Olympics.).[3][5]

	Qualified to 2019 IOQT
	2020 Summer Olympics host country

Seeding	Team	WC 2015	OG 2016	WL 2017	WCH 2018	Total
1	Brazil	80	100	45	90	315
2	United States	100	80	40	80	300
3	Italy	90	90	24	62	266
4	Poland	80	50	32	100	262
5	Russia	70	70	38	56	234
6	Canada	30	50	42	45	167
7	Argentina	50	50	28	33	161
8	Iran	25	50	26	36	137
9	France	0	30	50	50	130
10	Serbia	0	2	38	70	110
–	Japan	40	2	20	30	92
11	Belgium	0	1	34	45	80
12	Egypt	5	30	10	30	75
13	Bulgaria	0	2	30	40	72
14	Netherlands	0	0	18	50	68
15	Australia	5	3	19	36	63
16	Slovenia	0	0	22	40	62
17	Cuba	0	20	0	30	50
18	Finland	0	1	13	33	47
19	China	0	2	17	25	44
20	Mexico	0	20	6	14	40
21	Tunisia	5	3	5	25	38
22	Cameroon	0	2	0	30	32
23	South Korea	0	0	16	12	28
23	Puerto Rico	0	3	0	25	28

Final round

Means of qualification

Qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics

Pool A Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Brazil (Q) 3 8 2  Bulgaria (H) 3 7 3  Egypt 3 3 4  Puerto Rico 3 0 Source: FIVB (H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Pool B Pos Team Pld Pts 1  United States (Q) 3 9 2  Netherlands (H) 3 5 3  Belgium 3 3 4  South Korea 3 1 Source: FIVB (H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Pool C Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Italy (H, Q) 3 8 2  Serbia 3 6 3  Australia 3 4 4  Cameroon 3 0 Source: FIVB (H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Pool D Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Poland (H, Q) 3 9 2  France 3 6 3  Slovenia 3 3 4  Tunisia 3 0 Source: FIVB (H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Pool E Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Russia (H, Q) 3 9 2  Iran 3 5 3  Cuba 3 4 4  Mexico 3 0 Source: FIVB (H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Pool F Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Argentina (Q) 3 8 2  Canada 3 5 3  China (H) 3 5 4  Finland 3 0 Source: FIVB (H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Continental Olympic Qualification Tournaments

Africa

• The winners in final round qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Qualified teams

of the 53 CAVB and IOC member associations, a total of 4 CAVB member national teams entered the qualifying stage

Final round

Round robin
Algeria
Cameroon
Egypt (H)
Tunisia

Final round

Of the 4 qualified teams, only winners of this round qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Means of qualification

Qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics

Round robin

Pos	Team	Pld	Pts
1	Tunisia (Q)	3	9
2	Egypt (H)	3	6
3	Algeria	3	3
4	Cameroon	3	0

Source: FIVB
(H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Asia and Oceania

• The winners in final round qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Qualified teams

Of the 61 AVC and IOC member associations, a total of 18 AVC member national teams entered the qualifying stage

Zonal qualification round Pool WZ  Iraq  Kuwait  Oman (H)

Inter-zonal qualification round Pool A Pool B  Iran (H)  Japan  Australia  Chinese Taipei  Qatar  Thailand  Sri Lanka  Hong Kong Pool C Pool D  Kazakhstan  South Korea  China  Indonesia  Oman  Kuwait  India  Pakistan

Final round Pool A Pool B  Iran  Australia  Chinese Taipei  South Korea  China (H)  India  Kazakhstan  Qatar

Notes

• Teams in bold qualified for the next phase and final tournament.
• (H): Qualification group hosts
• Kazakhstan replaced Pakistan who withdrew from the final round.

Zonal qualification round

Of the 3 western zone teams, top two teams qualified to the next round.

Pos	Team	Pld	Pts
1	Kuwait (Q)	2	6
2	Oman (H, Q)	2	3
3	Iraq	2	0

Source: AVC
(H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Inter-zonal qualification round

Of the 16 qualified teams, the top eight teams (excluding Japan) qualified for the next round.

Means of qualification

	Qualified for the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament
	Qualified for the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament playoffs

Pool A Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Australia (Q) 3 8 2  Iran (H, Q) 3 6 3  Qatar 3 4 4  Sri Lanka 3 0 Source: AVC (H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated. Pool B Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Japan 3 9 2  Chinese Taipei (Q) 3 6 3  Thailand 3 3 4  Hong Kong 3 0 Source: AVC (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated. Pool C Pos Team Pld Pts 1  China (Q) 3 9 2  India (Q) 3 5 3  Kazakhstan 3 4 4  Oman 3 0 Source: AVC (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated. Pool D Pos Team Pld Pts 1  South Korea (Q) 3 9 2  Pakistan (Q) 3 5 3  Indonesia 3 4 4  Kuwait 3 0 Source: AVC (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated. Pool G Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Qatar 3 6 2  Kazakhstan 3 6 3  Sri Lanka 3 6 4  Oman 3 0 Source: AVC Pool H Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Thailand 3 8 2  Indonesia 3 7 3  Hong Kong 3 3 4  Kuwait 3 0 Source: AVC 9th–12th places round   9th–12th semifinals 9th place match                 19 September      Qatar 3   20 September    Indonesia 0    Qatar (Q) 3   19 September    Kazakhstan (Q) 1    Thailand 2      Kazakhstan 3   11th place match     20 September      Indonesia 2      Thailand 3 Note: Kazakhstan replaced Pakistan, who withdrew from the final round. Final round Of the 8 qualified teams, only the winners of this round qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Means of qualification Qualified for the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament semifinals Pool A Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Iran 3 9 2  China (H) 3 5 3  Chinese Taipei 3 4 4  Kazakhstan 3 0 Source: FIVB (H) Host. Pool B Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Qatar 3 7 2  South Korea 3 6 3  Australia 3 5 4  India 3 0 Source: FIVB Final four   Semifinals Final                 11 January      Qatar 1   12 January    China 3    China 0   11 January    Iran (Q) 3    Iran 3      South Korea 2   Europe The winners in final round qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Qualification round The hosts Germany and the top seven ranked teams from the CEV European Ranking as of 30 September 2019 which had not yet qualified to the 2020 Summer Olympics competed in the 2020 European Olympic Qualification Tournament. Qualified to 2019 CEV COQT Qualified as Intercontinental Qualifier winners Seeding Team ECH 2019 ECH 2017 WCH 2018 WL 2017 Total 1  Serbia 100 96 48 48 292 –  Russia 92 100 44 46 282 –  Poland 96 82 50 42 270 2  France 94 84 42 50 270 –  Italy 90 92 46 38 266 3  Belgium 84 94 38 44 260 4  Slovenia 98 86 36 36 256 5  Bulgaria 80 90 36 40 246 6  Netherlands 82 74 42 34 232 7  Germany 86 98 28 18 230 8  Czech Republic 76 88 20 30 214 Final round Of the 8 qualified teams, only the winners of this round qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Means of qualification Qualified for the European Olympic Qualification Tournament semifinals Pool A Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Slovenia 3 8 2  Germany (H) 3 7 3  Belgium 3 2 4  Czech Republic 3 1 Source: FIVB (H) Host. Pool B Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Bulgaria 3 7 2  France 3 5 3  Serbia 3 4 4  Netherlands 3 2 Source: FIVB Final four   Semifinals Final                 9 January      Slovenia 2   10 January    France 3    France (Q) 3   9 January    Germany 0    Bulgaria 1      Germany 3   North America The winners in final round qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Qualified teams Of the 35 NORCECA and IOC member associations, a total of 7 NORCECA member national teams entered the qualifying stage Qualification round – NORCECA Champions Cup Round robin  United States (H)  Canada  Cuba  Puerto Rico Qualification round – NORCECA Championship Pool A Pool B  Canada (H)  United States  Mexico  Cuba  Puerto Rico  Dominican Republic  Guatemala Final round Round robin  Canada (H)  Cuba  Mexico  Puerto Rico Notes Teams in bold qualified for the next phase and final tournament. (H): Qualification group hosts Qualification round The 2019 NORCECA Champions Cup champions and the top three teams from the 2019 NORCECA Championship which had not yet qualified to the 2020 Summer Olympics competed in the 2020 North American Olympic Qualification Tournament. Means of qualification Qualified for the North American Olympic Qualification Tournament Qualified for the North American Olympic Qualification Tournament playoffs NORCECA Champions Cup – Round robin Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Cuba (Q) 3 12 2  United States (H) 3 7 3  Canada 3 6 4  Puerto Rico 3 5 Source: NORCECA (H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated. NORCECA Championship – Pool A Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Canada (H, Q) 2 10 2  Mexico 2 5 3  Puerto Rico 2 0 Source: NORCECA (H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated. NORCECA Championship – Pool B Pos Team Pld Pts 1  United States 3 15 2  Cuba 3 10 3  Dominican Republic 3 4 4  Guatemala 3 1 Source: NORCECA (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated. NORCECA Championship – Final round   Quarterfinals Semifinals Final                               6 September      Canada 1   5 September    Cuba 3    Cuba 3   7 September    Puerto Rico 0    Cuba 3      United States 1     6 September      United States 3   5 September    Mexico 0 3rd place match    Mexico (Q) 3   7 September    Dominican Republic 1    Canada 3      Mexico 0     5th place match         6 September      Dominican Republic 2      Puerto Rico (Q) 3   Final round Of the 4 qualified teams, only winners of this round qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Means of qualification Qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics Round robin Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Canada (H, Q) 3 13 2  Cuba 3 11 3  Mexico 3 5 4  Puerto Rico 3 1 Source: FIVB (H) Host. (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated. South America The winners in final round qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Qualified teams Of the 11 CSV and IOC member associations, a total of 8 CSV member national teams entered the qualifying stage Qualification round Pool A Pool B  Brazil  Chile (H)  Argentina  Venezuela  Colombia  Peru  Ecuador  Bolivia Final round Round robin  Chile (H)  Venezuela  Peru  Colombia Notes Teams in bold qualified for the next phase and final tournament. (H): Qualification group hosts Qualification round The top four teams from the 2019 South American Championship which had not yet qualified to the 2020 Summer Olympics competed in the 2020 South American Olympic Qualification Tournament. Means of qualification Qualified for the South American Olympic Qualification Tournament Qualified for the South American Olympic Qualification Tournament playoffs Pool A Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Brazil 3 9 2  Argentina 3 6 3  Colombia 3 3 4  Ecuador 3 0 Source: CSV Pool B Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Venezuela (Q) 3 7 2  Chile (Q) 3 6 3  Peru 3 5 4  Bolivia 3 0 Source: CSV (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated. 5th–8th places round   5th–8th semifinals 5th place match                 13 September      Peru (Q) 3   14 September    Ecuador 0    Peru 3   13 September    Colombia 2    Colombia (Q) 3      Bolivia 0   7th place match     14 September      Ecuador 3      Bolivia 1 Final round Of the 4 qualified teams, only winners of this round qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Means of qualification Qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics Round robin Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Venezuela (Q) 3 7 2  Chile (H) 3 6 3  Colombia 3 5 4  Peru 3 0 Source: FIVB (H) Host; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated. References "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee". olympic.org (press release). International Olympic Committee. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 19 April 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2021. "Host city election for the Olympic Summer Games 2020". IOC. Retrieved 13 January 2020. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Tokyo 2020" (PDF). FIVB. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018. "FIVB Senior World Ranking - Men (as of 1 October 2018)". FIVB. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018. "Intercontinental Olympic qualification tournament hosts announced". FIVB. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.